ST. LOUIS — Jared Stroud scored three minutes into the match and St. Louis CITY never let up in a 5-1 victory over FC Cincinnati after tornado warnings forced a lengthy delay at the start of the match on Saturday night.
Stroud used assists from João Klauss and Eduard Löwen to give St. Louis CITY (6-2-0) the lead on its way to ending a two-match losing streak in its first season of play. The win moves St. Louis CITY back in front of Seattle atop the Western Conference after the Portland Timbers beat the Sounders 4-1.
Löwen followed with an unassisted goal in the 39th minute to make it 2-0. Kyle HIebert found the net — with assists from Stroud and Klauss — in the second minute of stoppage time for a 3-0 halftime lead.
Nicholas Gioacchini stretched the lead to 4-0, scoring in the 53rd minute with assists from Rasmus Alm and John Nelson. St. Louis CITY's final score came on an own-goal by Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano four minutes later.
Cincinnati (5-1-2), which entered play atop the Eastern Conference, suffered its first loss this season but averted a shutout when Sergio Santos took a pass from Dominique Badji and scored in the 62nd minute.
St. Louis CITY had a 17-11 advantage in shots and a 7-5 edge in shots on goal.
Roman Bürki finished with four saves for St. Louis CITY. Celentano saved three shots for Cincinnati.
Cincinnati returns home to host the Portland Timbers on Saturday. St. Louis CITY travels to play the Colorado Rapids on Saturday.